Stand Up For Nonprofits

Featured Author:

Nancy E. Schwartz

Nancy E. Schwartz helps nonprofits succeed through effective marketing and communications as the publisher of the Getting Attention blog and e-newsletter, and as president of New York City-based Nancy Schwartz & Company (NS&C). Nancy and her team at NS&C provide marketing planning and implementation services to organizations as varied as the Corporation for Supportive Housing, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Environmental Health Coalition, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and the National Center for Biking and Walking.
Nancy is a board member of NTEN and on marketing committees of her synagogue, local PTA and high school. In her life beyond nonprofit marketing, Nancy loves hanging with her husband Sean and daughter Charlotte, occasional triathlons, gardening, cooking/eating, hiking, photo-ing and much more!
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I want to welcome guest blogger Susie Bowie. As communications manager at the Community Foundation of Sarasota, she is a passionate and talented force helping organizations in the region develop their nonprofit marketing finesse. Today, Susie heralds her call to action to us nonprofit marketers…

Recently, I’ve heard a couple of remarks about nonprofits and nonprofit staff that just kill me…

First a local business person shared his view that “most of us drawn to nonprofit leadership roles care about charitable work but generally lack the skills to be leaders in the for-profit world.”

Then Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, bluntly stated (his modus operendi) that nonprofits don’t have the power to change the world because they “have no resources” and are “constantly out trying to raise money instead of generating it and being self-sufficient.”

My guess is that if I’ve heard such patronizing criticism from these vocal folks in just the past couple of weeks, that this perspective is fairly widespread.

Why should nonprofit marketers care about such silly comments?

Each time word goes out, in a comment, article or broadcast – about how ineffective or unprofessional our sector is – it costs us financial support. Those messages generate doubts among our supporters, much less those who are still prospects. A heavy onus lies with nonprofit communicators to set it straight, but we can’t do it alone.

So what can and should nonprofit communicators professionals do about it within our sector? Here are three ways we can advocate for the truth:

1) Nurture the business people who do understand the power of nonprofits, support us with sponsorship dollars and provide us with outstanding board leaders.

In Sarasota, FL, local companies like Cavanaugh & Co, Kerkering Barberio, SunTrust and Northern Trust are just a few of the successful for-profits doing their part. As nonprofit communicators, we must thank such boosters profusely and set the stage for keeping the relationships going, highlighting their good work in our nonprofit’s outreach and encouraging our leadership to spread the praise.

It’s simply good public relations. Your personal and business pages on Facebook provide a great forum for shout-outs. Don’t let them slide once a sponsored event or program is over. And let your business partners know what you’re doing—just because you see a good news announcement in your local paper doesn’t mean they’ve seen it.